Several days ago the Day Worker Center worked at the Los Altos Art & Wine Festival. But it actually wasn’t just wine, they also sold beer. I thought it was just wine! But that wasn’t the case, it was a bit of everything.

The DWC was responsible for keeping the area clean of trash, which would accumulatein the trash cans—and there was a lot of trash. The entire day we’d walk around, seeing happy faces, faces that had drunk a bit of wine, faces already pretty tipsy. Also kids having fun in the games area, food stalls making money, those who were selling their art trying to make sales, the police doing their work, and the Day Worker Center at a table telling people about what we do. All in all it was a great event, and even though we worked 10 straight hours we had a lot of fun.

Today I want to write about a volunteer and friend of the Day Worker Center. This man donates his time every Saturday, and is always around to help in this area. What motivates him to do this, I have no idea. But I am sure of one thing—he does it out of the goodness of his heart. He gives without expecting anything in return. He gave his own money so that the workers of the Day Worker Center could have a carne asada on the 4th of July. These kinds of people make a difference. They leave pleasant feelings in their wake. When I look at him, I think, what motivates him? Why does he do this? What does he gain from all of this? He could be at home with his family, avoiding the heat instead of picking up the fruits and vegetables that are donated to us by the venders at the Farmers Market on Saturday. He offers to buy something to drink to those who come along with him, although there’s no reason to do that. But he does, and how amazing it would be to have this kind of people everywhere in the world!

THANK YOU TO OUR FRIEND AND VOLUNTEER, NATHAN

If we were to all contribute our grain of sand, we would make a mountain of opportunities for everyone.

A few days ago I went to work for an American. Really great guy. He was very happy with the work that we were doing for him. On a side note he took us to a restaurant where they make amazing tacos, really delicious tacos. All the people that I’ve worked with have been mainly white and have treated me very well. They’ve been very satisfied with the jobs I’ve done. But I want to mention something unpleasant that happened. There were two people smoking in front of the next house over, and to our surprise they began to call us “wetbacks”. Without even knowing what they were talking about they started to make fun of us. It was the first time after so many years in this wonderful country, twenty years to be exact, that someone criticized me for my skin color, or my appearance, or how I dress. Just because we do this kind of work, they think they have the right to insult us, believe that we’re worthless, think that we’re always up to something bad. But it’s not like that. In all these years that I’ve been in this amazing country, I have worked–since I was sixteen when I arrived, without family, without friends. I worked hard to be able to pay the bills, day after day to have a future that in my home country I didn’t have. What happened in my life after that is on me. With complete respect and humility I don’t mean to offend anyone. Thank you.

On Monday, the Day Worker Center received a visit from Notre Dame High School. There was a large group of students in various Spanish classes who came to talk to and interview the workers in addition to sharing a meal. While I did not sit in on the interviews, I did see the effect it had on the workers.

There were more smiles. I could see people getting animated as they shared their life story, their triumphs, their hardships, and why they came to this country. I think that many times, while waiting for a week to get one day of work, some of the workers may think that nobody cares or realizes what they do to earn a living. They get discouraged when nobody notices what an impact they have on this community.

But Monday was different. Having the students come to ask questions about their lives made a difference. It showed that people actually care and are willing to take the time to learn about people who are different from them. Staying within our own social groups–that is easy. But making the effort to learn and understand someone else’s culture and lifestyle does not just change one’s perspective–it makes life more worthwhile.